Final Reflection

As I look back on all of my old posts, I've come to realize how much I've grown in this class and as an individual experiencing her first semester of college. I can safely say that I truly did enjoy this class, even the highs and lows. Some of the moments of dread I had, especially at first, were probably recording the elevator pitches. I've always been rather introverted, and I never really liked knowing that people would be watching me speak. However, by the very end, I got used to it -- even if the pitches were still, relatively speaking, pretty bad. Sometimes I procrastinated the assignments, especially the lengthy ones, which definitely taught me to be more timely! The most important part was that I saw growth in all aspects, which I would definitely describe as the highs in this class. I loved putting hard work into developing my tiny eco-friendly, healthy, organic coffee café and turning it into a great idea. I loved getting the friendly feedback from everyone after I published my work, so overall I'd say I had a great time.

The best experiences in this class were definitely when I attended the live lectures. The classroom environment and small group made it a really fun and interactive learning experience. I feel like I will remember years down the line the insightful lessons taught in this class about entrepreneurship, everything from starting to exiting. I loved interacting with fellow business peers, and it was a very joyous experience to be able to network with others within a class. I'm very proud of myself for accomplishing such a well-developed business idea, and how this class gave me the opportunity to decipher all the nuances that compose a successful business. I'm glad I didn't give up on developing a socially conscious business made for the benefit of people. 

Now that we've reached the end of this class, I can definitely see that I have developed a greater entrepreneurial mindset. All of the assignments truly engrained within me the different skills that an entrepreneur must have in order to be successful -- identification of an opportunity, and the ability to come up with a solution. This new insight I believe will truly aid me as I continue to pursue a career in business. I believe I haven't 100% accomplished this entrepreneurial mindset because I still lack a bit of the creativity and innovative problem-solving skills that define the successful entrepreneur, but this class has definitely brought me a lot closer.

One recommendation that I would have to students that are taking this journey in the future is to make sure that they develop a business idea that they are in love with. If they aren't absolutely passionate and crazy about their idea, it will have a lesser chance of developing into something big and successful. Fostering an entrepreneurial mindset is all about having strong dedication to your idea and working hard to develop it into something that truly meets the identified opportunity -- tenacity is key. I think the same thing would apply in regards to general success in the course, since all the assignments are going to be about developing your business idea. If they choose to follow with something they're only marginally interested in, it will be very hard to keep up with the assignments and maintain motivation. So my best advice would be to pick something you truly wish to focus on for the whole semester, do the assignments ahead of time, and watch the lectures to get as much knowledge about entrepreneurship as possible!

It was truly a pleasure to work with everyone and I'm incredibly thankful for all the wonderful feedback received throughout the semester. Best wishes to everyone, and I hope to see all of your entrepreneurial ideas come to life! 

Venture Concept No.2

Sustainable Coffee Shop Venture Concept

Opportunity

My business concept is comprised of local coffee shop, but it's not a typical one, as it is rooted in social entrepreneurship by promoting environmental sustainability. The opportunity that exists here is a need for healthy coffee products with widespread convenience and availability -- products composed of organic coffee beans that support the local economy and environmentally sustainable agricultural practices. The philosophy that forms the core of my business is tailored to meeting the needs of everyone, especially within a society with a huge dependence on coffee. According to an article from USA Today published in 2013, about 83% of U.S. adults drink coffee -- therefore, there is definitely a lucrative market opportunity here!

So, who exactly is in need of these things? Simply put, everyone. As previously stated in my first venture concept, this opportunity involves a it is inclusive of all people. There is a huge market for coffee lovers, environmental activists, and overall, people that want to make a change while going about their everyday routines such as enjoying their daily cup of fresh coffee. People are currently satisfying this need by purchasing at large franchises that dominate the market -- Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, McCafé, etc. However, the "window of opportunity" lies in the fact that people are becoming more aware of the issues that are behind these popular locations. They're often not selling the most nutritional products, as they are replete with high sugar, preservatives, artificial flavoring, etc. The window of opportunity exists as society is becoming more aware of the ingredients in their everyday products. Furthermore, these large companies don't support local coffee growers nor place much effort in improving agricultural sustainability as my business addresses. If a large proportion of the population drinks coffee everyday, then it is our societal responsibility to make sure the coffee products being sold are healthy and made with simple organic ingredients of high quality, and that they aren't depleting our local soil. People are becoming aware of the environmental problems in agriculture and business development -- therefore, I wish to present a small solution with my coffee shop. 

In a world where environmental and social problems like climate change and income inequality are beginning to come to light, people are starting to fight back and make their voices heard -- and my business allows them to do so in perhaps the easiest way possible, as they don't have to go out of their way to make a change!

Innovation

The coffee market is extremely competitive, as it is dominated by the large franchises previously discussed. Therefore, it is important that my business include elements of innovation in order to differentiate itself from these large companies with staggering amounts of marketshare. The way I've incorporated this is by founding the business by enveloping social entrepreneurship in its core and in every detail -- we wish to promote better agricultural techniques like drip irrigation, organic fertilizer use, soil management, and conservation of resources. By partnering up with local organic farmers, the business also helps out the local economy. Therefore, it incentivizes people to support these significant social causes by doing something they do everyday -- enjoying their daily cup of coffee.

 A cup of coffee with healthy roots and simple ingredients made transparent for consumers is really good news for the environment and human health and awareness. Our coffee drinks will be made with healthy ingredients to preserve quality and freshness, it will taste homemade -- so no artificial flavoring, excessive sugar, and weird ingredients that you can't pronounce. The result is a simple and delicious coffee drink that consumers don't have to think twice about drinking. The cups themselves will be manufactured from recycled material, and engineered to be as compostable and biodegradable as possible -- demonstrating the innovative eco-consciousness enveloped in all details of my business.  Therefore, unlike the major competitors, my business can proudly market its efforts to help the local and global environment, local economy, and promotion of healthy ingredients in our food. 

The most innovative detail of my business, however, has to be the annual educational trip. A potion the profits -- what remains after the variable/fixed costs are paid -- will be saved up over the course of a year to fund an educational trip. The trip would be to a developing country where coffee agriculture is prominent in the economy, like Indonesia, Colombia, Ethiopia, etc., and would be composed of investors, the most loyal customers, and some employees/administrative personnel. The purpose would be to help with sustainable agricultural research and development in these places, with the ultimate goal of fostering growing techniques in these regions that are environmentally sustainable.

The product being sold are delicious, healthy cups of coffee sourced naturally. The pricing will range from $3-5, depending on the size of the drink purchased. The prices won't vary too much from what you'd find at any other coffee shop, as price distribution in this market is rather uniform to maintain the current levels of quantity demanded. There will be multiple flavors and brews, as well as seasonal drinks in order to maintain product differentiation.

Venture Concept

My business solves the opportunities identified in many ways.  There's a need for feasible access to local coffee shops to promote the local economy and agricultural landscape. There's a need for healthy coffee drinks sourced from organic coffee beans and made with simple and good ingredients, all while preserving a delicious and fresh taste. There's a need for businesses to integrate environmental consciousness and ethics in their products and services. There's a need for an easier way for people to promote social and environmental causes without people having to get out of their way to do so, and with an added bonus of a high-quality cup of coffee as an incentive. My business offers solutions to all of those needs, which is what would attract consumers to purchase from us.

My business therefore differentiates itself from competitors by promoting environmentally-conscious harvesting, packaging, and an important annual event dedicated to environmental education and awareness, and on top of that, it's a healthy, organic product with simple and quality ingredients unlike what you would find at most coffee franchises and supermarket shelves today. Consumers get the opportunity help the local economy and the global environment as a whole, in the simplest way possible. The benefits are truly amazing!

Three minor elements 

- The "secret sauce" of my business lies in its core purpose of doing good for the world. This makes it highly differentiated from the other competitors, and makes it very marketable to a society that is beginning to value business with social consciousness. Social capital is also very valuable as we would foster business partnerships with organic coffee farms that would supply us with the delicious and healthy ingredients needed to produce the drinks.

- What would be next for our business is probably developing a research team on how we could incorporate even more social and environmental consciousness into the core of our business, and maximize revenue. Also, we would work on other ways that we could keep our customers happy, an example could be improving customer service so that it will be unique as possible. An example could be training the baristas to be as friendly and welcoming as possible to have the best service out there.

- What would be next for me, as an entrepreneur, would be steadfast dedication to making sure the business thrives. I would probably give it my all, and this probably sounds cheesy but my heart is fully invested in the progressive cause that shapes the foundation of my venture concept. I want to strive to make sure that everything I do is for the benefit of the Earth and humanity as a whole, as feeling like I'm making a difference -- regardless of scale -- fosters utmost personal happiness and self-fulfillment more than anything.

Feedback Summary + Application

The feedback I received in the first venture concept assignment was regarding logistics -- such as supply, production, and organization -- were very helpful. Since originally my idea only operated in the local scale -- as I had only planned to start with only one shop -- I realized then that I would only marginally be providing a solution for the local population. As I've said before, the needs that this business aims to solve are on a more national scale. Therefore, in order to be an even better solution to the widespread need, I would have to scale and expand my business. I would do this by partnering up with national coffee farms near locations with the right arable land to grow the coffee bean crop organically, sustainably, and for low-cost. Therefore, my coffee shop can operate all-year round, perhaps even in different locations by opening up more cafés near the farming partners across the country -- thus serving more people and reaching a greater portion of the market. This solves the issues of very small distribution, which would prevent growth. Also, if I only received supply from one coffee farm, it could be affected by climate and annual soil patterns therefore slowing down production. Increasing coffee farm partnership and covering a larger geographical region would definitely solve many of the problems that arise with supply, so I'm thankful for the feedback that helped me solve this issue! 

Other than solving those issues, I didn't really change that much from the original idea. The feedback I received really emphasized the innovation behind a social business, as one comment said, it is "more than a business." It is designed to help bring awareness to the environmental issues of the agricultural sector in a local, national, and even international scale! This emphasis on education and promoting social good has proven to be the best (and main) asset of my business, and the primary way it differentiates itself from market competitors and other business projects in general. 

Thanks again for reading~

Reading Reflection No.3

The book that I chose to analyze for the last reading reflection was How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams, a comic book creator.

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The book ties together a bunch of small, yet effective life lessons from Scott Adams. He derived these lessons throughout his experiences of developing his career -- facing hardships and even failure like every entrepreneur at some points. The book itself has a humorous tone to it, although the lessons themselves are serious and good things to take mental notes of.

Adams focused a lot on the importance of valuing yourself, taking care of yourself first before anything else. Many of the lessons incorporate some elements of "selfishness," which are incredibly important -- as in order to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to make the right decisions that benefit yourself first before anyone else. This is imperative if you wish to reach your goals and find personal success, you have to be your own biggest motivator.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

As the book title suggests, failure is something that is a part of our lives. At one point or another, the entrepreneur stumbles upon a roadblock in the process of attaining success in their market -- a concept that the class explored in detail in the assignment "Celebrating Failure." Therefore, this book deeply enhanced the content of the class by touching upon the personal side of things -- the entrepreneurs themselves. This is just as important as focusing on the business and logistical intricacies of creating and running a venture, as you have to have a certain mindset to be a successful entrepreneur. This book therefore delves into the more personal elements of the entrepreneurial process, specifically how to get back on your feet after failures, and develop human capital to craft a mindset tailored towards success.

3) If you had to design an exercise class for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

Since the book involves a lot of self-care tips to maximize personal success and happiness, I would probably develop an exercise that incorporates self-reflection. I would want students to reflect on some long-term goals -- whether it be personal, career related, etc. -- then I would want them to provide some insight on how they plan to reach these goals. It doesn't have to be incredibly elaborate because many of us aren't 100% on what we wish to do in the future. However, if we can sort of get a general idea of the small steps we plan to take to gain personal success, then I feel like it would be insightful to see how we map out what we do in the present to help prepare us for the future. Then, after this is completed, the next step would be to amend the smaller details about how we plan to reach these goals -- what are some things we can do in our everyday lives to improve ourselves and attain our goals? How can we productively improve ourselves each and every day? These small goals -- maybe perhaps like adopting a better diet, exercising more, meditation, or making more time to do the things that make us happy, are key concepts that the book emphasizes to make ourselves more successful in the future.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

My biggest surprise moment came while detecting a strong pattern among all of the lessons -- finding personal happiness. This means doing things that encourage you both mentally and physically, which means surrounding yourself with positive people to foster a positive attitude that will lead to success. Often time, an entrepreneur finds themselves hunched over their work for hours upon hours, and neglecting to take care of themselves and basic needs. This, according to the book, will lead one to quickly run out of the personal energy that needs to maximized in order to strongly carry out through the journey. This came as a big surprise because in entrepreneurship there is a huge emphasis on the value of "the hustle", but the book made me realize that every extreme -- like overworking -- can slow down your productivity towards reaching these goals. Therefore, it's important to create a healthy balance that focuses on working towards success but still includes elements of personal positivity, health, and management skills in order to maintain the energy to keep going.

Your Exit Strategy

Exit strategy-

1) I would stay with my business, as founder and CEO, for as long as I could. In that time where I have that position, I would try to develop the business as much as possible. I would try to grow it as much as I could, in other words, I would work for as long as I can to do as much as possible to go above and beyond the original goals. After I retire, I would pass it on to someone who is equally as passionate and eager to continue expanding. This person would also have to be dedicated to finding new ways that my business can continue its theme of environmentalism and social causes.

2) I selected this particular exit strategy because I want the business to maintain it's original foundation of social entrepreneurship and making a product-service that advocates for environmental and human welfare causes. I want it to continue this original objective, even after I retire. I want it to forever be known as a peaceful, environmentally-friendly coffee shop, and I feel like if I sell it for a return, it's development will be out of my control. Basically, I don't want anyone to tamper with its original purpose and message, which is why I'll choose someone with a similar original vision as I had to run the business.

3) I believe my exit strategy does reflect many of the decisions I've taken in developing my entrepreneurial concept. When working through the class assignments that guided me in developing everything, I made sure to maintain the original purpose of the business -- to create a quality coffee shop with delicious, healthy products that also incentivize people to support environmental causes. This remained constant throughout the whole process, and therefore my exit strategy shows that I will make sure it remains constant even after I retire. Consistency is a key pattern in my business, and has become a very valuable aspect in how I make decisions.

Celebrating Failure

As a first-year college student, or rather, as a normal human being, I've learned that it is completely okay to make mistakes sometimes. We aren't perfect, and that is something I have learned extensively during my first semester of college.

During my second week as a college student, there was a syllabus quiz to be completed for my Macro class. However, I wasn't too Canvas savvy at that point -- the quiz was due at 8 AM on a Monday, but for some reason I thought I had until 8 PM to turn it in. You could've imagined my surprise when I opened my computer at 5 PM to work on the quiz, and lo and behold, it was already marked as past due. No makeups. I felt a rush of anger and disbelief at myself, how could I let such a thing occur?  

Thankfully, everything turned out okay. The professor drops the 2 lowest quiz grades for the semester! I certainly took that experience as a valuable lesson that has aided me ever since -- always pay close attention to due date details. Do things ahead of time to avoid such easy slip-ups. I don't know if I would be so meticulous with details as I am today, had that mistake not occurred back in August. So at the end of the day, I celebrate myself for both the highs and lows.

Failure is something that happens to people at some point or another. However, here's one of my all-time favorite quotes --

"The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried." - Stephen McCranie.

When I first stumbled upon this quote, it resonated deep within me. It ultimately changed the way I perceived failure. Failures are lessons that help us improve for the future. For example -- didn't do so well on a test? Change your study habits. See what went wrong and improve yourself. In entrepreneurship, failing is the way that you learn what works and what doesn't -- therefore, the insights gained are incredibly valuable. Also, without experiencing the lows, you won't appreciate the highs as much when they occur. I think it's important to celebrate all aspects of being an entrepreneur, and learn as much as you can. 

Venture Concept No.1

Sustainable Coffee Shop Venture Concept

Opportunity 


My business is comprised of a local coffee shop which envelopes an element of social consciousness by promoting environmental sustainability. Therefore, my venture concept stretches onto a variety of different opportunities in various spheres -- a need for independent, localized places to buy coffee, greater promotion of organic coffee agriculture and the local agricultural economy, places with eco-friendly materials and inventory, and businesses with an educational/social mission for the greater good.

So, who exactly is in need of these things? Simply put, everyone. That is why I could decipher this opportunity, as it is inclusive of all people. There is a huge market for coffee lovers, environmental activists, and overall, people that want to make a change while going about their everyday routines such as enjoying their daily cup of fresh coffee. Although a good strategy would be to market to young college students that make up a great proportion of coffee consumers and social cause activists, my business would still cater to all people. Currently, people are satisfying this need by turning to large corporate franchises like Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, McCafé, etc. Truth be told, the quality of coffee from these places cannot compare to that of a fresh, flavorful, and locally grown cup of coffee. Coffee beans distributed to the masses just don't have the same homemade warmth, healthy properties, and care to it, and it's palpable from the way it's produced to the way it tastes. Your Grande Caramel Frappuccino from Starbucks carries a staggering 66g of sugar, has artificial flavoring, high cholesterol, and all other kinds of unhealthy qualities encompassed in food produced for the masses. People deserve something better than this, and my business is the healthy alternative.

 The window of opportunity regarding social entrepreneurship is only beginning to grow as we transition into a new millennium, where positive change and doing good is starting to become highly emphasized in our social fabric. In a world where environmental and social problems like climate change and income inequality are beginning to come to light, people are starting to fight back and make their voices heard -- and my business allows them to do so in perhaps the easiest way possible, as they don't have to go out of their way to make a change!

Innovation

The greatest aspect of innovation in my business has to do with the social cause that is tied to the business, allowing for feasibility in making a positive change as people go on about their daily lives. This also places an incentive for doing good, as customers get a high-quality cup of coffee in return -- a product that a lot of people want everyday!

Here's how it works: We acquire organic coffee beans from local farmers. Not only does this economically help the local agricultural market, but it's also good for the environment. By harvesting organically grown coffee beans instead of the genetically modified ones, we are helping the local soil maintain fertility and growing a product that is better and healthier for people to consume. Furthermore, the coffee beans would be grown using sustainable agricultural practices like minimized fertilizer/pesticide use, which is great news for environmental sustainability. Also, since the coffee beans will be harvested locally, there's no need for them to be trucked and transported from thousands of miles away, so that's less greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.

 A cup of coffee with healthy roots and simple ingredients made transparent for consumers is really good news for the environment and human health and awareness. Our coffee drinks will be made with healthy ingredients to preserve quality and freshness, it will taste homemade -- so no artificial flavoring, excessive sugar, and weird ingredients that you can't pronounce. The result is a simple and delicious coffee drink that consumers don't have to think twice about drinking. The cups themselves will be manufactured from recycled material, and engineered to be as compostable and biodegradable as possible -- demonstrating the innovative eco-consciousness enveloped in all details of my business. 

Consumers also have the option of ordering their favorite drinks through smartphone apps in order to avoid waiting in lines, which is very useful if they are in a rush and want to expedite their purchase. The most innovative detail of my business, however, has to be the annual educational trip. A potion the profits -- what remains after the variable/fixed costs are paid -- will be saved up over the course of a year to fund an educational trip. The trip would be to a developing country where coffee agriculture is prominent in the economy, like Indonesia, Colombia, Ethiopia, etc., and would be composed of investors, the most loyal customers, and some employees/administrative personnel. The purpose would be to help with sustainable agricultural research and development in these places, with the ultimate goal of fostering growing techniques in these regions that are environmentally sustainable.

Venture Concept

As previously discussed, the opportunity and need that my business addresses covers a variety of different spheres. There's a need for feasible access to local coffee shops to promote the local economy and agricultural landscape. There's a need for healthy coffee drinks sourced from organic coffee beans and made with simple and good ingredients, all while preserving a delicious and fresh taste. There's a need for businesses to integrate environmental consciousness and ethics in their products and services. There's a need for an easier way for people to promote social and environmental causes without people having to get out of their way to do so, and with an added bonus of a high-quality cup of coffee as an incentive. My business offers solutions to all of those needs, which is what would attract consumers to purchase from me.

The educational trip, which will take some of our greatest customers, take customers that have a certain amount of "points." Similarly to a retail rewards system, with each product purchased you get a certain amount of points -- which can be kept tracked of using the official app or a physical "rewards card" that would be recorded in a database software that the locale would use. After a customer accumulates a certain amount of points, they would be invited to join the educational trip, all expenses paid, to participate in humanitarian and environmental service by teaching sustainable agriculture in a developing region abroad. This is how my venture concept plans to incentivize people to gain eco-consciousness and do good things to promote sustainability for the planet. All you would have to do is go about your daily coffee run. My business offers delicious and healthy, organic and sustainable products that don't have the unhealthy ingredients that you would get at Starbucks or other popular franchises.

My business therefore differentiates itself from competitors by promoting environmentally-conscious harvesting, packaging, and an important annual event dedicated to environmental education and awareness, and on top of that, it's a healthy, organic product with simple and quality ingredients unlike what you would find at most coffee franchises and supermarket shelves today. Consumers get the opportunity help the local economy and the global environment as a whole, in the simplest way possible. The benefits are truly amazing!

Three minor elements

My venture's "secret sauce" would be our passion for promoting environmental sustainability, social change, and just doing good for the world. Another useful asset is the strong dedication from the entrepreneur, who would work really hard to make this business a success!

What would be next for our business is probably developing a research team on how we could incorporate even more social and environmental consciousness into the core of our business, and maximize revenue. Also, we would work on other ways that we could keep our customers happy, an example could be improving customer service so that it will be unique as possible. An example could be training the baristas to be as friendly and welcoming as possible to have the best service out there.

What would be next for me, as an entrepreneur, would be steadfast dedication to making sure the business thrives. I would probably give it my all, and this probably sounds cheesy but my heart is fully invested in the progressive cause that shapes the foundation of my venture concept. I want to strive to make sure that everything I do is for the benefit of the Earth and humanity as a whole, as feeling like I'm making a difference -- regardless of scale -- fosters utmost personal happiness and self-fulfillment more than anything.

Thanks for reading!

What's Next?

Existing Market

In the market for products and services with social causes, I think there is a lot to come as a result of growth. I feel as though the next wave of social entrepreneurship will find a way to involve society's technological innovations -- perhaps funding for programming and coding education in third world countries, the growth of technology fueled by clean energy to promote environmental causes, apps that can detect whether or not water is safe to drink, etc. The possibilities of this growing market are endless.

Interviews 
As usual, I interviewed local university students that would make up the majority of my targeted customers. The responses that I received mainly suggested that we cater to worldwide expansion as globalization of the coffee market continues its growth trends. People advocated for partnerships with rural, low-income coffee farmers in developing nations -- however, I felt as though that would take away from my businesses' goal of helping out the local agriculture.

Other responses suggested that the business should cater to technological advancements in society, as I had mentioned previously. An interesting idea could be to develop an app -- similarly to the Starbucks app -- that could keep track of a rewards system, or perhaps some sort of "points" that need to be collected in order to participate in the sustainable agriculture trip abroad. To summarize, businesses are gaining the ability to become more consumer-interactive, much of which is derived from technological development -- therefore my social enterprise would greatly benefit from adhering to these progressive changes.

Reflection
After gaining these new insights about what the future of my socially-conscious coffee shop should be, I began to vision a viable plan to take in order to develop and improve my idea into something greater. I think it makes a lot of sense to incorporate technological elements into my business in order to enhance the overall customer experience and satisfaction. The business-to-consumer interaction that is growing in marketing and frequency is definitely something very important, and something that consumers want, given its rising popularity in the business world. We see businesses interacting directly with customers over social media, and this fosters a stronger bond between buyer and seller.

The ways in which I would develop these new methods of creating growth in my existing market would be through incorporating technology into the experience. I would probably hire a developer to create an app, one preferably with a feasible and beautiful design interface to enhance the user experience. I think it would include something similar to the rewards system, alongside express ordering so that people wouldn't have to wait in lines. Either way, this shows how consumers really look for feasibility and quick convenience in a business -- both of which are made possible by incorporating technological advancements.


New Market

A completely different market for my business -- which currently targets a market of younger people, mainly university students -- I could completely change things by targeting perhaps an older audience.

I think my venture concept can create value for the older age demographic similarly to how I created value for my original market -- by marketing the importance of the environmental cause that is the heart of my business. Also, I would work to maintain a friendly, warm customer experience ranging from the helpful service to the satisfaction post-purchase. The atmosphere of the local shop would remain a little more traditional and peaceful in order to cater to the older audience.

Interviews 

The responses that I received were very similar in nature, regarding the customer demands this new demographic market. They would like a place that keeps a more traditional atmosphere -- perhaps the decor, product names, colors, and overall arrangements wouldn't have such youthful notes, like what you'd find at a university locale. The shop would have to be more classic in design, and perhaps not promote such a social and crowded atmosphere that the younger market would prefer.

The responses also emphasized the importance of warmth and tranquility of the place itself, which must then reflect the actual coffee products themselves. So it would be perhaps a quiet place so that people could unwind after long working days.

Reflection 

I wasn't too surprised by the difference in interview responses that I received for the existing and new market ideas. My assumptions regarding the new market were confirmed as the responses highlighted the importance of a calm and comfortable experience. I assumed that targeting an older audience for my coffee shop would incorporate more traditional elements of coffee shops, such as timeless decor and warm atmospheres.

I think both markets are very attractive for my business, everyone has similar demands for a high quality product enhanced by the experience from entering and leaving the coffee shop. Though I think a younger audience would, on average, be more inclined to the social entrepreneurship idea of environmental causes for sustainability in the future, I think it's still something that concerns all people regardless of demographics. Therefore, I learned that I could benefit greatly from placing my venture concept in a market for all people -- though I would still maintain the innovative "millennial" aspects of social media marketing, technological developments, etc.